December 2020

[Scott]

Hello,

Here is the latest Pro-tools update:

Automate “standard” guest messages using personalized templates

A new scheduled messaging tool allows you to send personalized messages to guests after booking, before/after check-in, and before/after checkout. Select the ‘Scheduled Messaging’ folder from the Inbox’s left navigation pane on the Web or mobile app. Learn more.

See popular dates in Multicalendar

We’ve made it easier to understand which dates are popular so that you don’t miss out on bookings on dates when more travelers than usual are searching for stays. Click on the “Layers” button on the multi-calendar and make sure “Popular Dates” are enabled.

See “sandwich” nights in Multicalendar

If you have nights unintentionally blocked due to your minimum length of stay settings, we’ve made them easier to see on the calendar and added the ability to temporarily lower the minimum length of stay rules for those nights. These will show up automatically on the multi-calendar.

Filter by opportunity type in the Opportunity Hub

To make it easier to focus on specific types of opportunities, we’ve added opportunity filters to focus on specific goals. Select a filter under ‘Ways to improve your business’ on the Performance tab on the Web or mobile app.

List of Listings design update

To make it easier to navigate between the List of Listings page and Manage Your Space pages without losing track of your workflow, we’ve embedded the Manage Your Space experience inside the List of Listings page. It’s now easier to navigate between listings without losing context. Click ‘Listings’ from the top menu on the Web.

Account Activity Log

To make it easier to tell when settings were updated, and by whom if you host with a team, we’ve added an activity log that shows key changes to your listings and account. Click ‘Activity’ from your profile menu on the Web.

Airbnb support folder in Inbox

To make it easier to find conversations with Airbnb support from the Inbox, we’ve added a dedicated “Airbnb Support” folder that collects all support conversations in a single place. Select the ‘Airbnb Support’ folder from the Inbox’s left navigation pane on the Web or mobile app.

Let us know below if you have used any of these features and/or if you have any feedback. 

Scott

[Emilia42]

Thanks, @Scott. There is some very useful information here. The ability to open "sandwich" nights is really simple and a great idea. I have to say that I find the Opportunities "hub" really useless. I wish we could dismiss the items we do not want to add/are not possible for our listing.

[Scott]

Hi @Emilia42 thanks for your feedback on dismissing items in the Opportunity Hub.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Scott Is this a new plan to actually inform hosts when the listing tool changes? If so then I applaud you. Will we get informed when you reduce functionality as you did recently be taking away the ability to see what a guest will pay and a host be paid out for a particular set of dates?

[Ann72]

@Mike-And-Jane0  The tools will be listed in a "changelog" - see @Lizzie's post from today about it:  https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Professional-Hosting-Tools/Welcome-to-Professional-Hosting-Tools...

[Scott]

Hi @Mike-And-Jane0 yes our goal is to highlight updates on what is changing in the tools. Although we definitely won't be able to cover every change, so thanks in advance for bringing up this particular change.

Can you explain a little more about the change so we're clear what it was?

• what did you used to get done with that feature?
• now that it's gone, how do you get that same task done?

Thank you!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

Hi @Scott Thanks for following up on this. Up until a few months (?) ago, when in the monthly calendar view if you highlighted say 7 nights the right hand side that pops out would allow you to see what a guest would pay and what the host would be paid. Since this disappeared, as a host, I no longer know what the guest is paying so I fear we price too high - But I just don't know!

Many hosts were sad when this disappeared .

[Ann72]

@Scott  I missed this when you posted it, but it's really useful.  After you replied to my post about Scheduled Messages with a link to the help article, it reminded me to look there first before posting here.  I spent some time in the Help resources today and found a ton of information.  I especially like the way a help article there is linked to a post here on the same subject.  

I've been using the highlighted "sandwich nights" for awhile and find it really helpful.

I've found the Manage Your Space tool embedded in the Listings list to be incredibly useful as well.  At this time of year, I like to make small daily changes to my listings to keep them updated and to nudge them up in search results, and this makes doing that a lot easier.

As you know, I've been using Scheduled Messaging and it's been a fantastic addition to my hosting toolbox.  I still want to be able to pull the Guidebook link into a scheduled message and hope they're working on that.

I did not know about the Activity Log until reading the above and think that's great, too!  The only thing is it keeps saying Listing Name Change and I have not changed the listing names at all.

I discovered the Airbnb Support Inbox a couple of months ago and thought it was great.

I've got Popular Dates selected in multi-calendar, but I don't see any results.  For instance, Columbus Day Weekend is very popular in New England for fall color viewing trips, but I see no popular dates in October at all.  Could you share a screenshot of what popular dates look like on the calendar?  

Finally, the Opportunity Hub.  I would venture to suggest that this is the red-headed stepchild for most hosts.  For instance, as @Emilia42 suggests, once we've dismissed a suggestion - like "allow pets" or "switch to a flexible cancellation policy" - it should stay dismissed.  We're not five-year-olds who have to be reminded to wash our hands before and after every meal.  Once we've decided on a policy, the vast majority of us probably know that we can find the tool to change it when we want to change it.  We have gotten far enough into adulthood to own property, after all.  You might remind the 20-somethings who design some of these functions of that.  (@Katie, don't get mad at me for that.  I've been in Zoom meetings with some of these smart, charming, and engaging young people, so I know their age range. :))

I do spend a lot of time on the Opportunity Hub, but I usually skip down to Quality or Conversion.  From a hosting standpoint I find that increased views result in increased bookings, and I want to keep an eye on the view count.  However, this isn't as clear as it might be.  I understand that views and clicks and other forms of engagement are all different things.  But the view count used to make it clear that it was based on trip dates.  Is that no longer a factor?  And are views counted differently on the web and on the app?  Because I'm seeing two very different view counts.  See screenshots below.

Sorry about the lengthy screed but I did want to give you positive feedback overall!

[Ann72]

@Scott  Can you share a screen shot of what popular nights would look like?  As noted above, October should have popular nights highlighted but I see nothing like that on my calendar.

[Scott]

Hi @Ann72 the focus for this feature is to highlight unexpected high demand.  That might be why October is not being highlighted for you.  Here's what it looks like:

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Scott When I look at the layers available in the Muti-calendar we only have 'price' and 'rule sets'. Does your post above for popular dates only apply to hosts in the USA? If so  does Airbnb have any plans to become a truly global company and roll this out worldwide?

[Colleen253]

@Scott

 As Mike and Jane, I also only have price and rule sets to choose from.

Also, re activity log. Like @Ann72, I make daily updates to listing description, and only rarely update rules or listing title, yet any activity noted due to description updates is always accompanied by "house rules updated" and "listing name change". This isn't accurate, and also makes the log extremely cluttered. Interestingly, I also noticed a recent log of a reservation request that didn't actually take place. I have no record of this reservation request anywhere else. How accurate is the info in pro tools overall? I'm left doubting a tad.

[Emilia42]

@Scott 

I really like the option to easily open up the sandwich nights. It would also be really beneficial if we could open specific prep days. Right now, I cannot make a prep day available without changing the preparation setting for the entire listing.

[Ann72]

@Emilia42  Have you gotten that to work?  It has been working for my listings - i.e., I can override the blocked prep time date by making it available.  Sometimes it takes more than one try, though?

[Emilia42]

@Ann72 

I wasn't able to get it to work so I removed the prep time in my settings which makes me really nervous if I can't get to my calendar right away. But I will try it again. Maybe it's working now. Thanks!